


Safe in My Garden

by Shiisiln



Category: Ib (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Flowers, Gen, Language of Flowers, Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 09:17:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12078135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiisiln/pseuds/Shiisiln
Summary: Two children ponder the way that flowers connect them to people who are no longer there.





	1. Side A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kintatsujo on tumblr requested "a short fic post their respective canons of Frisk and Ib, theme of floral symbolism"
> 
> Title is taken from The Mamas and The Papas song "Safe in my garden".

Ib’s mother kept a garden.

It wasn't much, just a few flowers in planters on the porch. She said they brightened the place up.

Her favorite was the small tea-rose bush she had so carefully nurtured ever since they moved to the new house. After three years of dedication, it grew a profusion of large, bright red blossoms every summer.

One day, Ib’s father clipped one of the flowers and tucked it behind Ib’s ear. “A flower for my flower,” he said breezily.

Ib tried to keep her flinch internal, but he must have noticed the look that flitted across her face.

“Oh no, did I poke you?” he asked, suddenly worried. “I thought I got all the thorns off…”

Ib shook her head. “I just don't think I look good with flowers,” she said quietly.

“Nonsense,” he said, and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re beautiful.”

Later, she stared at herself in the mirror, at the blood-red flower in her hair.

“As the flower rots, so too shall you,” she whispered to herself.

She gently touched the rose, and wondered.

~

In the morning, she could hear her parents voices through the window.

“But who would do this?”

“Do you think something ate them?”

“No, there's nothing around here that would like roses. Besides, the petals are all scattered like someone just threw them on the ground.”

“I bet it was those damn kids coming home from school.”

“Dear, don't get angry.”

“I'm not angry, I just… I know you loved them.”

“Well, it was almost time for them to start wilting anyway.”

Ib stared down at the petals on her bedroom floor.

She had gone out last night and methodically torn every single rose off her mother's bush, ending with the one her father had given to her. 

She felt bad about upsetting her parents, but she just had to know.

She hadn't rotted. Of course she hadn't rotted.

But if she hadn't…

She curled up on the bed, wrapping her arms around her face.

If she hadn't rotted, why had he?!


	2. Side B

Asgore kept a garden.

He started it as soon as the monsters started getting settled in topside. As soon as he got a permanent house he started digging up the front yard, turning up long beds that he dutifully planted rows and rows of flowers and decorative shrubs in.

He also tended to the gardens at Toriel’s new school, but it was obvious that the one at his house was his pride and joy.

Frisk watched him a lot. After school they’d come over to his house, he’d give them a glass of iced tea, and they’d sit on the porch and gaze out over the garden as he weeded and watered and planted.

They couldn’t help but notice the wide bank of buttercups that dominated the front two beds. 

They couldn’t help but notice the particular care that Asgore devoted to them. 

And they couldn’t help but notice the soft, sad smile that played around his mouth when he stood over them.

It hurt to see. It hurt to remember Asriel.

It hurt to be the only one who DID remember him. It was unbelievably painful to know that his own parents would never know what happened to him in the end.

Sometimes, they thought they should tell Toriel and Asgore, despite Asriel’s wishes. Maybe one day, they would act on that thought.

For now, they watched Asgore plant his garden, and they thought about the past.

~

One day, they got sick of just watching. They wandered down the lawn, walked up to Asgore, and tugged at his shirt until he looked down at them.

“Oh, hello there, Frisk!” he said, smiling down at them. “Did you need something?”

They hesitated for a moment, then signed at him.

His eyes widened slightly. “You- you want to help in the garden?”

They nodded.

“Well, of course!” Asgore said, straightening up. “Let’s get you some gloves.”

That morning was full of hot, tiring work. Asgore taught Frisk how to tell the weeds from the budding flowers, and how much water each plant needed to thrive.

In the afternoon, they sat together on the porch with cups of lemonade, and Asgore leaned back with a heavy sigh.

“Those were their favorites, you know,” he said, pointing down to the buttercups. “My… the other human child.”

Frisk looked up at him curiously; he’d never talked about Chara so openly before. 

“I didn’t know if I should plant them here or not,” he said, leaning his chin on his hand. “It’s not healthy to dwell in the past.”

They sat in silence for a long time. After a while, he was the one to break it again.

“I don’t blame you if you don’t forgive me, you know,” he said, softly. “I’ve made my peace with what I’ve done. If you… would rather-”

Honestly, Frisk didn’t know if they forgave Asgore for everything or not. 

(From how he talked, they didn’t know if he wanted to be forgiven.)

But they patted his knee reassuringly, and signed at him, “I like gardening with you.”

He smiled, his eyes crinkling around the edges. “Let’s dig up a little bed just for you. What would you like to plant there?”

Frisk thought hard for a while, and finally signed, “I like sweet peas.”

“Ok,” said Asgore. “I think we can do that.”

~

A few days later, Asgore greeted Frisk excitedly at the front drive, and led them down to their flower bed. “Look, the shoots are coming up!” he said, pointing them out.

Frisk looked down at the tiny green plants poking up out of the ground. They were so small and fragile, it put some unidentifiable, bittersweet feeling in their chest.

They smiled up at Asgore, and he smiled back at them, and the two of them sat there for a long time.

They looked out over the garden, and thought about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to http://thelanguageofflowers.com/?ref=organicgglunkwn&prid=pfseogglunkwn , Sweet Peas can stand for "Good-bye; Departure; Blissful Pleasure; Thank You for a Lovely Time."
> 
> As far as I'm concerned, these games could absolutely take place in the same canon.


End file.
